Mission-Focused

Posted bySteve

“When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51, ESV).

Mission-Focused is the fourth and final core value of North Greenville University. Jesus Christ exemplified keeping his focus on his mission. As the days drew near for Christ’s arrest, death by crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, Jesus was resolute in keeping his focus. He came to seek and to save the lost by offering his life to bear the sin burden for all humanity. He knew what awaited him in Jerusalem, but still set his focus resolutely on his mission. Nothing, not even the enemy, could deter him.

At North Greenville University, we must be resolute in keeping our focus on the mission. It is so easy for Christian institutions, including the church, to drift away from their mission. Many times, the drift is unintentional. However, drift is always away from the mission. The current flows in only one direction. A mission is a specific task that a group or individual is charged to pursue. Focus involves adjustment for distinctly clear vision. The mission of North Greenville University is to build graduates who are transformational leaders for church and society. Spiritual formation is essential to the process. Jesus commanded the church to make disciples through evangelism and disciple making (Matt 28:18-20). You have to be a disciple before you can make disciples. Believers must be disciples who are growing in the faith and modeling a Christian lifestyle before they can effectively pour their lives into others. Therefore, at the core of our mission, we must be disciples who make disciples. With Christ as our example, North Greenville University is Mission-Focused and intentionally insulating the institution from mission drift. 

Published by Steve

NORTH GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY Senior Campus Pastor/Chief Spiritual Formation Officer/Professor of Evangelism, Spiritual Formation, and Ministry EDUCATION The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 2014 Doctor of Philosophy at the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Ministry; dissertation title “A Missiological Evaluation of Southern Baptist Multiethnic Churches in the United States.” FAMILY Wife: Martha, Married in 1989 Children: Stephen Joshua, born August 6, 1995 Married to Shelby with two children and one on the way. Caleb Daniel, born January 9, 1999 Moriah Jordan, born April 11, 2003 1995 Doctor of Ministry; dissertation title “Discipleship through Small Groups at North Greenville College with a functional major in campus ministry. Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary 1992 Master of Divinity Gardner-Webb University 1976 Batchelor of Science in Psychology with a double major in Religion graduating magna cum laude. WORK EXPERIENCE North Greenville University Senior Campus Pastor, Chief Spiritual Formation Officer, Professor of Evangelism, Spiritual Formation, and Ministry 2019-Present Reports directly to the University President, serves on the Executive Leadership Team, functions as a member of the Denominational Relations Committee, provides pastoral care for the university family, and seeks to cultivating a vibrant spiritual foundation to the university’s culture and practices. North Greenville University Vice President for Campus Ministries 1991–2019 Planned, recruited leadership, led, managed, and evaluated all phases of campus ministries, reporting directly to the University President Ministry in Local Churches Youth Pastor, Minister of Music, Worship Leader, and Interim Pastor 1973–Present Serves through local churches to expand God’s global mission, evangelizing the lost and discipling believers who will share the gospel, and disciple others, equipping transformational leaders for church and society.